


The Boar Prince

by inosukeanti (transkeithkogane)



Category: Mononoke-hime | Princess Mononoke, 鬼滅の刃 | Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (Anime), 鬼滅の刃 | Kimetsu no Yaiba (Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Princess Mononoke Fusion, First Meetings, Fluff, Inspired by Fanart, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:20:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21728950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/transkeithkogane/pseuds/inosukeanti
Summary: After traveling west in hopes of lifting a demonic curse places on him by a dying boar god, Tanjiro encounters Inosuke, the prince of a boar clan locked in a deadly battle with an iron-making settlement on the outskirts of Cedar Forest.An Inotan Princess Mononoke AU.
Relationships: Hashibira Inosuke/Kamado Tanjirou
Comments: 14
Kudos: 131





	The Boar Prince

**Author's Note:**

> This whole piece was inspired by amazing fan art done by cenpede on Tumblr! Please go check out and support their piece here! (https://cenpede.tumblr.com/post/186386312816/inotan-but-its-princess-mononoke-style-edit-hey) 
> 
> Anyway, this is just a short drabble thing with Inosuke and Tanjiro in the Princess Mononoke universe. I had a lot of fun writing it because Inotan are best boyfriends and no one can change my mind about that. 
> 
> Also Inosuke would look so good as a prince amirite ok anyway thanks for reading nfkdsln

They’re moving, a gentle up and down, up and down, the way that deer race through the forest. The motion is soothing when Inosuke stirs, feels warmth against his bare shoulders, the shift of soft fabric. His head is heavy when he lifts it, blurred vision catching rocks and dirt rushing past below and he instinctively tips forward, grabs hold of the mane of the beast that he’s riding on as the world comes sharply into focus. There’s a body behind him, but only for a moment, then a rustle of fabric and the weight behind him shifts, slips down and down and down. 

Inosuke turns his head just in time to see the young man hit the ground, bounce limply against rocks and dirt. He realizes that they’re flanked on either side by his sisters when hooves hit boulders like flint, spark as the two boars whirl, bear down on the stranger with mouths wide, teeth bared and ready to tear him limb from limb with vicious snaps of their jaws. 

“Leave him!” Inosuke’s voice cuts through the thick warmth of the night air at the same time the elk beneath him realizes that his master’s no longer atop him and begins to kick out wildly, bucks until Inosuke slides down off his back. Broken broken ribs shift as he hits the ground on all fours. From the human’s blow? He doesn’t look like much now as Inosuke pads over to him, barely has to inhale to catch the pungent scent of blood in the air. “He’s mine.” The human deserves as much, deserves a blade twisted in his gut. 

Inosuke’s lips curl back in a sneer and his sister, Kei, presses her head under his arm, nudges at his palm with a wet nose, bulbous nostrils quivering with every inhale. She’s a beautiful sow, a dark black coat like the night sky above them, flecked with royal silver around her eyes and snout. Despite being female, her tusks are large, although she prefers to tear her prey apart with her teeth, would have disemboweled this fool in front of them if Inosuke had hesitated for more than a second. 

Inosuke’s sharp eyes wander over the human’s prone form, take in the bright green of the cloak he’s wearing, the fresh wound received no doubt on their escape from Irontown. It goes straight through him, blood staining his front as well as his back. “Those Irontown bastards really shot him,” Inosuke muses, snorts a puff of air as he nudges the human with his foot. “He’s dying.” He’s lost so much blood already, Inosuke can see it slicked across the elk’s hide when the animal pads a few steps closer, watches them with the whites of his eyes. 

He runs his fingers through the coarse hair on Kei’s forehead, dark brows knitting together when the human lets out a soft breath of air, a quiet moan of protest. “Hey… You’re still conscious?” Inosuke catches the flutter of dark eyelashes and he lunges forward, gets a handful of red hair between his fingers and yanks his head back, rolls him over so the delicate skin of his throat is exposed. 

“Answer my questions then, asshole!” he snarls, shakes the human with the grip he’s got on his head. Despite the antagonizing, he doesn’t get much of a reaction save for the purse of the human’s lips, a slight wince of pain from the movement. “Why the hell did you save her? Tell me before I kill you myself.” The lady of Irontown, the demon who hides under the guise of a human. She deserves no mercy from him nor this human. 

There’s a gentle inhale of air. The human’s chest rises and then falls before he answers in a voice that’s thin enough the night wind almost carries it away. “I didn’t want them to kill you. That’s why.” 

The words might sound innocent, but they’re enough to make Inosuke release his grip, recoil in disgust at the implication. “What makes you think they would have killed me? I’ll kill all the humans in my forest!” It’s fallen to him to carry on his father’s legacy, to make sure that they keep the forest alive, a safe haven for animals and gods alike. 

The human is unphased though, even when Inosuke tugs roughly at his hair. Again, the only reaction is a twitch of his lips. “I know. I knew that since I saw you.” 

The day before. By the river. After the attack on the convoy from Irontown. This human had asked for council, for confirmation that this was the forest of the gods. Surely, Inosuke had thought at the time, he could tell it was by who they were. Kei and Kazu are nobility, the last of the line of the great boar Nago, the protector of this place, appointed by the Forest Spirit. 

This man is a fool. Inosuke is sure of it. And he’ll die as a fool dies. 

“You think saving my life spares you?” His fingers fly to the blade at his side, draw the long, jagged piece of metal from its sheath. He turns the sword to point downward, raises it above his head with both hands. “I should kill you for stopping me!” The blade smiles bright silver in the moonlight as it swings down, is halted right at the level of the human’s flesh, digs in but produces only a single droplet of blood. “Nobody can stop me from having my revenge.” This human will never be allowed to leave the forest alive. His effort to “save” Inosuke will be his demise. 

“No.” The word is quiet still, but the finality of it rings in the air, makes Inosuke grit his teeth, tighten his fingers on the hilt of his blade. 

“Live,” the human below him insists and Inosuke feels a swirl of confusion, the persistent tug of doubt at the back of his mind that flings him into a fierce rage. 

“I’ll cut your throat! That’ll shut you up!” 

But just before Inosuke can drive his blade down, before he can tear through flesh, leave the human broken and bleeding, the stranger’s eyes flicker open and Inosuke is caught with a gentle stare that sucks all the breath right out of his lungs. The human’s eyes are a deep red, like the darkest depths of a sunset when night is too quickly overtaking day, a burnt auburn like amber found in the oldest trees. Inosuke’s never seen anything like them before and the human has the audacity to smile, corners of his lips turning up in a peaceful gesture. 

“You’re… beautiful.” 

Inosuke’s breath catches in his throat for the second time and he launches himself backward until he presses up against Kei’s sturdy side as he stares, eyes wide pools of blue, sword clutched loosely in his hand. 

“What is it, Inosuke? Shall I rip him apart?” Kazu’s voice is low as she steps forward, scents the air around the human and gnashes her teeth. 

Inosuke’s still caught in the human’s gaze, in the way his smile hasn’t wavered. If anything, it’s gotten wider, brighter when he realized Inosuke wasn’t going to deliver the finishing blow. “Your name is Inosuke?” The human’s voice wavers and Inosuke can hear the air rattle in his lungs when he takes a breath, coughs up blood onto his lips, but Inosuke’s frozen at the sound of his name on the tongue of a human, said not with disgust but with soft reverence, a kindness that’s foreign and terrifying. 

Inosuke takes a step forward, sheaths his sword and reaches for the stranger’s forearm, tugs the sleeve of his shirt up just enough to reveal the pattern of a demonic curse mark, fingers skimming the top of the human’s hand as he draws back. 

The stranger seems unperturbed by the touch, lets his eyes slide back closed with a gentle sigh and adds, “Inosuke, the beautiful Boar Prince.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm definitely open to expanding on this AU if people are interested (including doing this same scene from Tanjiro's perspective), but I really wanted to do this scene of Inosuke and Tanjiro first meeting because uhhh the best meet cute ever??? Get you a boy who threatens to kill you!!!! 
> 
> Anyway, you can find me @inosukeanti on Twitter and Tumblr! I'm always looking for moots to chat with! And of course, any feedback on this piece if very much appreciated!! Thanks for reading!


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